


Burning the Midnight Oil

by morethanmedia



Category: Crossing Lines
Genre: Exhaustion, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, cared for, collapse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27139585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morethanmedia/pseuds/morethanmedia
Summary: During a difficult mission, Sebastian neglects to care for himself
Kudos: 8





	Burning the Midnight Oil

Rubbing a rough hand over his tired eyes, Kommissar Sebastian Berger leaned on his elbows on the desk. He was exhausted from the nearly two weeks of double and triple shifts to break through a human trafficker's heavy firewall protected accounts and track down all the "transactions" of people and finances across three eastern European countries borders. Raking his fingers over his days old scruff, it only then occurred to Bash that he hadn't shaved or even showered for three days. He shifted uncomfortably in his newly realized knowledge. A dull ache has started behind his he wanted was to close them but with the rest of the team still working in the field a deep guilt settled inside him.

"It would be wrong to complain about being tired, after all, everyone else was still working the same hours as him and after having read through the details of the sales of other humans how could he complain about being a little overworked? After all, some people's lives were either gone or ruined tired was only temporary…"

Irritated with what he deemed selfishness, Sebastian rose and quickly marched to the coffee machine. He poured himself a hot cup and grabbed several headache pills in the first aid cabinet, not bothering to read what they were or their instructions. Kommissar Berger threw back the tablets and washed them down with the hot coffee then the computer tech returned to his workstation.

Two hours later, Sebastian's wristwatch read three o'clock. Checking it and cross referencing the time on the computer, Sebastian ran his hand through his hair. The headache had increased to a constant pain that the medication would not touch and it was then that he looked to his hands and saw them shaking unsteadily, out of his control. Berger might not be a control freak, but being unable to control his own body frustrated him deeply and a surge of anger rose through him. Without thinking he threw the remnants of the coffee across the room just as a notification from the team flashed across one of the computer screens.

"We're coming home."

"Endlich!" Sebastian exclaimed as he wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty upper lip. While he felt relieved that their hard work had paid off, a sickening roll in his stomach made him pause, trying to quell his stomach's attempt at after a few painful spasms, Sebastian's internal alarms let him know that he won't last much longer. He got up and tried to rush for the bathroom. As he exited the computer communications room a ping from his phone went off but Bash didn't go back for it. He couldn't go back.

Upon reaching the bathroom, the jump in blood pressure from rushing has made the pulsing pain behind his eyes spread through his entire skull. He only just made it to the toilet.

After longer than he cared to imagine getting sick, Berger shaking like a leaf managed to stand himself up in the stall with the aid of the wall and stumbled to the sinks. Grasping the edge of one he leaned heavily against it and even with the support his limbs were having trouble supporting him. Easing himself down to his elbows, he splashed cool water on his face, trying to breathe through the pain still beating heavily in his head.

The water rejuvenated him enough after a few splashes and Sebastian managed to stand mostly upright but by his own reflection he could see himself sway visibly. It made his stomach roll again, forcing him to turn away and take uncertain steps towards the door, when his vision started to swim and twist before him. Sweat started to bead on his forehead and upper lip. Trying to brush it off and push on, Bash took another step but his legs mutinied against him and folded beneath him, slamming his knees into the tile floor.

Kneeling where he fell, the rest of the Kommissar's body threatened to follow his knees and give his senses were betraying him; his vision nothing more than a blur of colors. Sebastian's better instincts were telling him to call for help, his jittering hands searching drunkenly for his phone and finding nothing. It was then that he remembered the distant ping from the table as he left his computer.

"Verdammt." His curse was supposed to come out stronger but it was barely above a whisper and finally, the rest of his legs gave up and he fell nearly flat face down on the cool tiles. His hands barely caught him. The coolness of the tile floor was oddly beckoning as his eyes tried and closed on their own, but he still tried to crawl closer to the exit. Unfortunately, with how overheated he felt, the cold floor was more comforting than not. His arms ceased to hold his weight and lowered his torso to the floor then he laid his cheek on the ground, something he'd normally never consider an option, especially in a bathroom, but his body's need for the cool surface overruled his thoughts of sanitation and relief flooded his body. The idea of sleep was so inviting it took over and his mind and body finally shut off as darkness overtook his consciousness.

There were moments of awareness, voices and sensations Sebastian experienced but whether they were dreams or touches of reality he could not tell and he'd never truly know.

Some of the voices seemed to be calling to him but he could not make out the words. The tones were demanding but still unrecognizable and then they would fade to emptiness then feelings of motion. Even though they were jostling, they felt muted to the young German technician. The uncertainty of the shifting and handling forced a spark of panic, blind panic and Sebastian tried to push the disturbances away but they insisted, causing Berger to fight harder, trying desperately to keep them off him.

"Lass mich los!" Bash tried to shout at the entities but his voice seemed to be gone and fear overrode his whole, barely lucid, system.

"Hilfe!" He tried to call out. but a choked reaction was all he managed, as the sensation of drowning took over. Finally, audible words reached his ears. Foreign words but words nonetheless.

"Dammit Tommy, are you trying to drown him?" An Englenderfemale, Sebastian noted and tried to keep up with the raised voices surrounding him

"Like I meant to!" Another Englander, no, rougher sharper, Irish maybe and definitely male.

"Children, can you please behave? We seem to have a more pressing matter on hand," chided a third voice.

The accent was difficult for Sebastian's muddled brain to place. Simple, like the Englander but cleaner, less flair to the pronunciation. Canadian perhaps?

"I've seen more peace in a cab with four strangers at Christmas time trying to get out of Time Square than right now." Ahhh Sebastian reasoned, an American!

"Sebastian? Can you hear me?" the Englander asked.

The Kommissar tried to open his eyes but they refused to cooperate; then someone shook his shoulder, sending even the dark world he was locked in spinning. He really wanted them to stop and let him be but the urgency of their actions concerned him enough to try to see who the voices belonged to. Finally managing to crack his eyes open, a bleary wash was all he saw, but slowly the faces came into focus, revealing a long blonde female, a dark short haired male holding a paper cup in his hand, and the third a rougher looking shaggy haired male, older than the others. They were all staring at him. Thoughts still a jumbled mess Sebastian asked the only logical thing.

"Wo bin ich?"

The female raised her eyebrows curiously at him while the older man leaned closer.

"Sebastian, can you speak English for us?" the American asked and Sebastian realized he thought he was speaking English, as the faces started to stir familiar memories and names

"Hickman?" The American smiled in a bit of relief.

"Where am I?" He re-questioned, which caused the younger male to snort a laugh that was met with a dark look from the interaction just confused Bash more as he tried to piece together what happened. Fortunately, the blonde Brit decided to help him out a bit.

"We came back and found you on the loo floor," she offered almost apologetically, when the rest of the room came into focus for Sebastian. He was lying in the breakroom, laid out on a spare cot, legs propped up and an intravenous solution tapped into the crook of his elbow feeding a clear liquid into his arm. Sebastian looked to the British female as her name floated to him through the still messy memories.

"Pride," he said, her name finally coming to him.

She smiled happily at him but that disappeared as he tried to sit up from his position. The younger man pressed him back to lying down.

"Verdammt, let me up Tommy!"

"I don't think so mate, not till you can keep speaking the same language for longer than five minutes."

Berger wanted to try and get up but once he was horizontal again he could feel how exhausted his body was. Sienna Pride looked at him with concern.

"What happened Bash?" she asked but Hickman interjected before Sebastian could even think of an answer.

"When was the last time you ate something?" More accusing than questioning.

The young Tech looked awkwardly to the side.

"I had breakfast."

"Which day was that now?" Sebastian tried his damndest to sift through the memories and pull the right day to the front of his mind.

"Tuesday morning," he tried to state positively, realizing instantly by the reactions of all around that he was wrong.

"Jaysus." Tommy gave a dramatic eye roll, Sienna looked even more concerned than she already did.

"It's Wednesday afternoon Sebastian," Hickman told him flatly.

"I-I just got caught up in the case is all." Even to his own ears his voice sounded exhausted, no, weak. That alone made the Tech sit up quickly, his head nearly connecting with the Irishman's and he stood and nearly fell forward but McConnel and Hickman caught him by each arm, preventing him from having another run-in with the linoleum flooring. His hearing was shrouded in ringing and buzzing but a distinctive "Bloody Hell!" cut through, followed by several choice words from the Irishman and the American.

"You're a bit heavier than you look eh Bash," he heard Tommy snarl as his blurred world was inverted once again when he was laid back on the cot.

As Pride returned with a fresh IV, Bash looked dumbfounded at his own arm, noting the pulsing stream of blood, leaking from where the original IV used to be. The Kommissar's weary mind stared mesmerized at the way the blood gushed ever so slightly more in synch with his own heart, beating so real, so human.

Computers never did this. They had no pulsing life, no dependence on a life force outside of coding and electricity. His trance was interrupted, when a cool hand took his chin and tilted his head to face them. His eyes traveled involuntarily, to look at the person cupping his chin. Hickman, looking more worried than he thought the former NYPD detective could be, while Sienna was finishing with the IV replacement.

She chimed in.

"Maybe he should go to the hospital, he might have hit his head when he fell."

"No need to worry then eh there'd be no harm done there," Tommy snorted, causing both Pride and Hickman to send him a look, even though the American's was accompanied with a slight smirk at the quip. When his cell phone rang, Hickman left Tommy and Sienna to watch over the young German. Looking at the caller ID, he saw the boss of the ICC and his friend Louis Daniel calling.

"Louis."

"Did you bring Berger to the hospital?"

"No, just gave him an IV. He's come around a bit now."

"Did he say anything?"

"Naw just wanted to go back to work it seems"

"You didn't let him, did you?"

Hickman looked towards the German Tech laid out on the cot, snoring quietly as Sienna and Tommy talked or bickered amongst themselves.

"We convinced him he needed to rest." Carl smiled slightly.

Hickman could almost hear the touch of amusement in Daniels' voice.

"Keep me informed."

"Will do." Ending the call, looking back to his team back from a successful mission, he allowed himself a moment to enjoy it, before heading for his desk to see what was planned for them next.

The End


End file.
